P.K. Page
Canadian | ethnicity = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | period = | genre = | subject = | movement = | notableworks = The Metal and the Flower | spouse = William Arthur Irwin | partner = | children = 2 daughters (Patricia Morley, Sheila Irving), 1 son (Neal Irwin) | relatives = Michael Page (brother, b. 1923) | influences = | influenced = | awards = Governor General's Award, Order of Canada, FRSC | signature = | website = | portaldisp = }} Patricia Kathleen Page CC OBC FRSC (November 23, 1916 - January 14, 2010) was a Canadian poet.Peter Scowen, P.K. Page dies at age 93. The Globe and Mail, January 14, 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-15. Life Overview Page was the author of over 30 published books: of poetry, fiction, travel diaries, essays, children's books, and an autobiography.Rosemary Sullivan, "The Constant Writer: P.K. Page Remembered," CBC News, Jan. 15, 2010, CBC.ca, Web, Apr 11, 2011. She was also known as a visual artist, who exhibited her work as P.K. Irwin at a number of venues in and out of Canada. Her works are in permanent collections of National Gallery of Canada and Art Gallery of Ontario. Youth and education Page was born in Swanage, Dorset, England and moved with her family to Canada in 1919. Page's parents moved her to Red Deer, Alberta in 1919, when she was only 3, and later to Calgary and Winnipeg.P. K. Page biography, University of Calgary. Retrieved 2010-01-16. Page said her parents were creative, encouraging non-conformists who loved the arts, recited poetry and read to her. She credited her early interest in poetry to the rhythms she unconsciously imbibed as a child.Grania Litwin, "At 87, P.K. Page is moving ahead", Victoria Times Colonist, 25 May 2004. Retrieved 2010-01-16. A year in England when she was 17 opened her eyes to galleries, ballets and concerts. Career Page later moved to Saint John, New Brunswick, "where she worked as a shop assistant and radio actress during the late 1930s.""P.K. Page," eNotes.com, Web, Apr. 11, 2011. During that time Page befriended New Brunswick poets Kay Smith and Jean Sweet, and the three met regularly to read and critique each others' poetry.A. Elizabeth McKim, Kay Smith, New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia, St. Thomas University, STU.ca, Web, June 8, 2012. In 1941 Page moved to Montreal and came into contact with the Montreal Group of poets, which included A.M. Klein and F.R. Scott. She became a founding member of Patrick Anderson's Preview magazine in 1942, and of its successor, Northern Review, in 1945. Some of her poetry appeared in the modernist anthology, Unit of Five, in 1944, along with poems by Louis Dudek, Ronald Hambleton, Raymond Souster, and James Wreford. In 1944 she published a romantic novel, The Sun and the Moon, under the pseudonym Judith Cape. (The novel was reprinted in 1973 , along with some of her short stories from the 1940s, as The Sun and the Moon and Other Fictions.)Constance Rooke, "Page, Patricia Kathleen," Canadian Encyclopedia (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1988), 1602. Later she became a scriptwriter at Canada's National Film Board, where she met W. Arthur Irwin, a former editor of Maclean's magazine, whom she married in 1950. Following her marriage, "Page devoted her time to writing the poetry collection The Metal and the Flower (1954), for which she received a Governor General's Award." Page travelled with her husband on his diplomatic postings to Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Guatemala. In Brazil and Mexico, not hearing the rhythms of spoken English, she said, "I had a long dry spell, so I started painting and keeping a journal," published as Brazilian Journal and illustrated with her own paintings. She began writing poetry again following her return to Canada in the mid 1960s. Her visual art, under her married name as P. K. Irwin, is in galleries and private collections, including the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.Grania Litwin and Jim Gibson, "Writer's skill spanned the arts", Victoria Times Colonist, 15 January 2010, p. D1. Retrieved 2010-01-15. She spent the last years of her life in Victoria, British Columbia. Writing Page's career can be divided into 2 periods: the 1st being the 1940s and 1950s, the 2nd starting with her return to Canada in the 1960s. Her early poems "were inward-looking, imaginary biographies," which "rely heavily on suggestive imagery and the detailed depiction of concrete situations to express social concerns and transcendental themes ... such poems as 'The Stenographers' and 'The Landlady' focus on isolated individuals who futilely search for meaning and a sense of belonging. 'Photos of a Salt Mine' considered one of Page's best early poems, examines how art both conceals and reveals reality" Northrop Frye wrote about her 1954 volume, The Metal and the Flower, that "if there is anything such as 'pure poetry,' this must be it: a lively mind seizing on almost any experience and turning it into witty verse.... Miss Page's work has a competent elegance about it that makes even the undistinguished poems still satisfying to look at."Northrop Frye, "Letters in Canada – 1954," The Bush Garden (Toronto: Anansi, 1971, 39-40. Her later works showed "a new austerity in form and a reduction in the number of images presented." As well, there is a difference in type of image: "her later poems are often set abroad and suggest a path of liberation for the isolated, alienated individual.... Such poems as 'Bark Drawing' and 'Cook's Mountains' contain images outside the self as does 'Cry Ararat!' - a poem concerning the reconciliation of internal and external worlds, in which Mount Ararat symbolizes a place of rest in between." Critic George Woodcock has said that Page's "most recent poems are more sharply and intensely visual than ever in their sensuous evocation of shape and color and space; their imagery takes us magically beyond any ordinary seeing into a realm of imagining in which the normal world is shaken like a vast kaleidoscope and revealed in unexpected and luminous relationships." Recognition Page won the Governor General's Award in 1954 for The Metal and the Flower, and the Canadian Authors Association Award in 1985 for The Glass Air. In 1977 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and was promoted to Companion of the Order in 1998. By special resolution of the United Nations, in 2001 Page's poem "Planet Earth" was read simultaneously in New York, the Antarctic, and the South Pacific to celebrate the International Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations. Page's poems have been translated into other languages.Polish language annual "Strumien", No. 3, by translator Anna Galon A symposium on her work, "Extraordinary Presence: The Worlds of P.K. Page", was held in 2002 at Trent University. British Columbia Lieutenant Governor Iona Campagnolo awarded Page the first Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence in 2004, calling her "a true Renaissance woman." In 2007 Page was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.P.K. Page 1916-2010, Poetry Foundation, Web, Nov. 17, 2012. She held honorary degrees from University of Victoria (1985), University of Calgary (1989), University of Guelph (1990), Simon Fraser University (1990), University of Toronto (1998), University of Winnipeg (2001), Trent University (2004) and the University of British Columbia (2005). Her last collection, Coal and Roses, was posthumously shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize.Constance Rooke & Sandra Djwa, "(P.K.) Patricia Kathleen Page," Canadian Encyclopedia, Historica Foundation - Dominion Institute, Web, Apr. 11, 2011. In popular culture Page was the subjet of a 1990 National Film Board of Canada documentary, Still Waters: The poetry of P.K. Page, directed by Donald Winkler.Still Waters: The poetry of P.K. Page, National Film Board of Canada. Web, Apr. 19, 2019. P.K. Page Founders' Award for Poetry A $1,000 poetry prize is awarded annually by the Malahat Review in Page's name.New Award honours renowned poet P.K. Page", Press release, University of Victoria, 16 November 2006. Retrieved 2010-001-16. Its editor, Marilyn Bowering, said, "Her accomplishments have been an inspiration to several generations of writers," and declared that the award, called the P.K. Page Founders' Award for Poetry, would formalize Page's "long association with the Malahat Review." Publications Poetry *''Unit of Five: Louis Dudek, Ronald Hambleton, P.K. Page, Raymond Souster, James Wreford (edited by Ronald Hambleton).Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1944. *''As Ten, as Twenty. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1946. *''The Metal and the Flower.'' Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1954. *''Cry Ararat!: poems new and selected''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1967. *''Poems Selected and New''. Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 1974. ISBN 0887841325 *''Three Poet Artists'' (by Eldon Grier, P.K. Page, & Joe Rosenblatt). Burnaby, BC: The Gallery, 1978.Search results = au:Eldon Grier, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Aug. 31, 2014. *''Five Poems'', Toronto: League of Canadian Poets, 1980. *''Evening Dance of the Grey Flies.'' Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1981. ISBN 0195403819 *''The Glass Air: poems selected and new''. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1985, 1991. ISBN 0195405064, ISBN 0195408403. *''Two Poems''. Comox, B.C.: Nemo Press, 1988. (limited edition of 150 copies) *''Hologram: A book of glosas''. London, ON: Brick Books, 1994. ISBN 0919626726 *''The Hidden Room: Collected poems'' (edited by Stan Dragland; 2 volumes). Erin, ON: Porcupine’s Quill, 1997. Vol. 1 ISBN 088984190X - Vol. 2 ISBN 0889841934 *''Alphabetical''. Victoria, B.C.: Published for the Hawthorne Society by Reference West, 1998. *''Rosa Dei Venti/Compass Rose''. Ravenna, Italy: Longo Editore, 1998. *''Alphabetical/Cosmologies'' (2 volumes). Victoria, BC: Poppy, 2000. *''And Once More Saw the Stars: Four Poems for Two Voices'' (by P.K. Page and Philip Stratford). Ottawa: BuschekBooks, 2001. *''Planet Earth: Poems selected and new'' (edited and with an introduction by Eric Ormsby). Erin, ON: Porcupine's Quill, 2002. *''Cosmologies: Poems selected & new''. Boston: David R. Godine, 2003. *''Hand Luggage: A memoir in verse''. Erin, ON: Porcupine’s Quill, 2006. *''The Essential P.K. Page'' (selected by Arlene Lampert and Théa Gray). Erin, ON: Porcupine's Quill, 2008.The Essential P.K. Page, Books in Print, Porcupine's Quill, Web, July 2, 2012. ISBN 978-0-88984308-0 *''Coal and Roses''. Erin, ON: Porcupine's Quill, 2009.Coal and Roses, , Books in Print, Porcupine's Quill, Web, July 2, 2012. ISBN 978-0-88984314-1 *''The Golden Lilies, Poems by P.K. Page''. Church Street Press, 2009.The Golden Lilies Brochure (pdf), AlanStein.ca, Web, July 2, 2012. *''Cullen: Poems.. Duncan, BC: Outlaw Editions, 2009.Anita Lahey, Three works by P.K. Page, Malahat Review 173, Web, July 2, 2012. Plays *''Silver Pennies; or, The land of honesty. St. John, NB: Children’s Theatre, 1935. (script) *''Teeth Are To Keep'' (directed by Jim MacKay and Dino Rigolo). Montreal: National Film Board of Canada, 1949. (script) Fiction *''The Sun and the Moon'' (as Judith Cape). Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1944. *''The Sun and the Moon, and other fictions'' (edited by Margaret Atwood). Toronto: Anansi, 1973. (contents: The Sun and the Moon, The Neighbour, The Green Bird, The Woman, The Lord's Plan, Miracles, As One Remembers a Dream, George, The Glass Box) *''Unless the Eye Catch Fire''. Victoria, BC: Full Spectrum, 1994. *''A Kind of Fiction''. Erin, ON: Porcupine’s Quill, 2001. *''Up on the Roof''. Erin, ON: Porcupine’s Quill, 2007. Non-fiction *''Ships and Forts: Canada builds merchant ships recalling historic names of her pioneer forts'' (with E.L. Harrison). Montreal: Wartime Merchant Shipping, 1944. *''Brazilian Journal'' Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys, 1987. *''The Filled Pen: Selected non-fiction''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007. Art *''Planes'' (by P.K. Irwin and Mike Doyle). Toronto: Seripress, 1975. (graphics) Juvenile *''A Flask of Sea Water''. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press, 1989. *''The Travelling Musicians'' (illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton). Toronto: Kids Can Press, 1991. *''The Goat That Flew''. Victoria, BC: Beach Holme, 1993. *''A Grain of Sand''. Markham, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2003. *''A Brazilian Alphabet for the Younger Reader''. Erin, ON: Porcupine’s Quill, 2005. Edited *''To Say the Least: Canadian poets from A to Z.'' Toronto: Press Porcepic, 1979. ISBN 0888781741 Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy Athabasca University.Bibliography of Works by P.K> Page, English-Canadian Writers, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, Athabasca University, Web, July 2, 2012.. Audio / video Film *''Still Waters: The poetry of P.K. Page'' (directed by Donald Winkler). National Film Board of Canada, 1990. Audio *''A Poetry Reading'' (cassette). Toronto: League of Canadian Poets, 1982. *''P.K. Page & Ntozake Shange: Interviews''. Toronto: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1994. *''The Filled Pen: Poems'' (audiobook). Victoria, BC: Outlaw Editions, 2004. Except where noted, discographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:P K Page + audiobook, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Nov. 6, 2015. See also *List of Canadian poets *Timeline of Canadian poetry References Notes External links ;Poems *"Planet Earth" *"The Stenographers", August Poetry. *Canadian Poetry Online: P.K. Page - Biography & 6 poems (The After Rain, Autumn, This Heavy Craft, Deaf Mute in the Pear Tree, Single Traveller, Motel Pool) ;Audio / video *Griffin Poetry Prize readings, including video clips *P.K. Page at YouTube *[http://www.nfb.ca/film/still_waters/ Watch Still Waters: The poetry of P.K. Page], a 1990 National Film Board of Canada documentary ;Books *P.K. Page at Amazon.com *P.K. Page at Canadian Women Poets ;About *(P.K.) Patricia Kathleen Page in the Canadian Encyclopedia. *Griffin Poetry Prize biography *P.K. Page at English-Canadian Writers. *Three works by P.K. Page (review by Anita Lahey) *"Tracing a Terrestrial Vision in the Early Works of P.K. Page" at Canadian Poetry Category:1916 births Category:2010 deaths Category:20th-century poets Category:21st-century poets Category:Artists from British Columbia Category:Canadian painters Category:Canadian people of English descent Category:Canadian modernist poets Category:Canadian women artists Category:Canadian women writers Category:Companions of the Order of Canada Category:English immigrants to Canada Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Category:Governor General's Award winning poets Category:Naturalized citizens of Canada Category:People from Swanage Category:People from Victoria, British Columbia Category:Women poets Category:Women painters Category:Writers from British Columbia Category:Canadian poets Category:Poets Category:20th-century women writers Category:English-language poets